Last time we were at Meeks Park we checked on the Grape Mahonia, and look at all the berries turning blue!!!

 

On March 2, 2021, I wrote about Grape Mahonia.  You can access the article through the Archives.  I told you that some years the flowers get burned, and we get no berries.  Well, this year the Mahonia got lucky, and the cold spell didn't wipe out the flowers and subsequent berries.  Now the berries are ripening.  We should be able to taste them this summer.   I'll try it first, then let you know if they killed me or not.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

 

On our walks around the mountain, we have seen lots of Irises in bloom.  They are so pretty!!!

 

We have seen white, yellow, lavender, dark purple, and variegated ones like these.  Oh, and they smell so good!!!  I think this is my favorite display of Irises:  I love the mass planting;  it is so dramatic.  I'm sure Nancy and Jim would be glad to share some of these with you;  they have about a zillion.  

 

Irises are interesting to plant and grow.  You just lay the rhizomous roots on the ground and put a little soil (very little) on top.  Make sure they are in a sunny location, then, stand back and be impressed with their beauty.  

 

I have a good bulb catalog, if you want to see all the different varieties available.  Go to https://brentandbeckysbulbs.com   You might even want to get on their mailing list, they publish two catalogs a year:  Fall Planted and Summer-Flowering.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Nancy's Trumpet Honeysuckle has started blooming.  You can see it from the road, just across from her little garden shed.  It has been growing there for more than ten years, and has gotten big and really pretty.  I just took a close up picture for you to see its beautiful details, but this plant is eight feet tall and has hundreds of blossoms.  Gorgeous.  

 

This honeysuckle is an evergreen vine, and it blooms from April-August.  The hummingbirds love the bright red trumpet flowers.  My Field Guide to Wildflowers says that its natural habitat is woods and thickets.  Not sure if I've ever seen this in the wild;  I'd probably faint if I ran across it growing in the woods, but maybe...

 

I'LL KEEP LOOKING!!!

 

The blackberries are blooming, and you know what that could mean:  Blackberry Winter.  Let's hope NOT!!!  Often this time of year, when the Dogwoods and Blackberries bloom, we get one last frost.  Unfortunately, we have all planted stuff in our gardens.  

 

It is so hard to wait until May 15; (that is our frost date) but we really should.  It's fun planting once, but twice?  Not so much!!!

 

FINGERS CROSSED!!!!  

 

Look!  I found a 4-leaf clover.  

 

Trifolium repens, or White Clover is in the Pea family, and I've read that it is native to Europe and central China, and has been widely introduced to be used as forage crops.  I think clover may be one of those plants that people hate, especially in their lawns.  Oh well, it's still one of my favorites.  

 

My friend, Mr. Bridges could be walking along at a normal pace and bend down and pick a four-leaf clover, just like that.  I have to go a little slower, but I love to look for them, and usually find some.

 

I did not pick this one; I left it for somebody else to find.  I'll check next week, and see if anybody did.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Look at all that pollen!!!  We have a yellow car, so we don't see much on its surface, but all the horizontal surfaces in my house have a thin coat of yellow.  AAK!!!  We are so fortunate that we're not allergic to pollen.  I hope you are breathing well, and only inconvenienced by the extra chore of dusting.

I love this picture of the pine tree:  you can see where some of the pollen is produced, and you can see this year's new growth.  Look around and you will see that lots of the trees are blooming now, not just pretty flowers, but tons of catkins, and other pollen producers.  

 

HAPPY SPRING!!!

 

 

Get a load of the haybale.  It's growing weeds.  Somebody is going to have to mow it soon.  

 

Not me, I just decorate the front.  Can't wait til Patty and Bill come back.  We will transform it for late Spring.  Stayed tuned.  ;}

 

I promise, you'll love it!

 

HAPPY  GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

This is the Russian Red Kale blooming.  See what I mean about the little broccoli florets?  I just pinch them off and sauté them in butter, and voila, fresh vegetables for supper.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

This is curly kale in the garden.  Pretty spectacular, isn't it?

 

I planted it last fall.  It needs two years to go to seed, so it has to survive the winter.  

 

Well, it did, and now it is blooming, then it will go to seed.  The leaves are still good to eat, and now the little blossom buds are like broccoli, so we eat them too.  Even the flowers are edible and tasty.  

 

I have already replanted kale for this year, but I'm not ready to take out last year's crop.  We can still get seeds.  

 

Four seasons of food for free.  Well, there is the work part, but.....

 

I LOVE MY GARDEN!!!  

 

The Dogwoods are blooming all over the woods.  You can see them all along the highways and in the neighborhood.  Some have been planted by people, some have planted themselves naturally.  All are beautiful!!!

 

Did you know that Dogwood, Cornus florida is the state flower of North Carolina and Virginia?  Yep.  We all love the Dogwoods.

 

Of course you also know how you can identify a dogwood, right?    By its bark.     Horticultural humor  ;P

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BETSY!!!